Stomach-burning fidget spinners on EU warning list

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Fidget spinners have become a worldwide playground craze, but some of the cult toys can also cause serious injuries to children, according to a new EU report on dangerous products released on Monday.

Brussels said its product alert system had detected some light-up spinners with button batteries that can come loose and be swallowed, causing "burns to the oesophagus and intestines". Other types of the popular finger spinners have central bearings that can come loose to create a choking hazard for small children, according to the European Commission, the watchdog for the 28-nation EU.

"A number of concerns have been raised due to accidents involving small children, who have either swallowed broken parts of the toy or ingested button batteries. In these cases, hospital intervention is necessary and urgent," the report said. "Consequently, dangerous fidget spinners have been tracked down, stopped at borders or ports, or destroyed."

The EU said it had issued 2,201 dangerous product alerts in 2017. Toys were the biggest category with 29 percent, followed by motor vehicles with 20 percent and clothes with 12 percent. China was by far the most frequent country of origin for dangerous products with 53 percent, although that figure remained stable from the previous year. European products accounted for 26 percent.